A Regional Jet Captain reported having to stop very abruptly during taxi into his gate to avoid a catering truck turning in front of his aircraft. He stated this has occurred previously at this airport.

Narrative

Upon landing in CLT we were taxiing into the gate. As I approached the spot the rampers were waiting for us to marshal the aircraft in. As I was making the turn in to park at the gate a catering truck approached from the right side and proceeded to drive in front of the nose while we were taxiing in to the gate. I slammed on the brakes (not a figure of speech; the aircraft was literally and violently brought to a sudden stop) in order to prevent contact with the catering truck. After the truck passed (I tried to get the drivers attention but to no avail) a ramp supervisor came over and continued to marshal the aircraft in while the other rampers took up the role of wing walking. After parking and shutting down I made a brief P.A. to the passengers as to why the aircraft was suddenly stopped. I went outside to find the supervisor and tell him what happened. He said he would take care of it; but as I have mentioned in every other report I have filled out I have heard that line before and still have yet to see anything done about it. I also notified ramp control but I am not holding my breath for anything to be done on that end either.The catering truck; like all the other vehicles; did not give way to the aircraft on the ramp. I hate to say this but this is business as usual in CLT. This is a common regular occurrence and until somebody gets injured I highly doubt anything will ever change.